In the End, It's Just Me

I could share my side

of the argument

with everyone in this bar

but instead I haul it before the judiciary

of my thoughts.

I could fight the battle
with all these drunken soldiers
but instead remain
this country of one
with its slumped in corner,
fingering the whiskey glass,
patriot.

I could open up
the operating theater
of my pain and guilt
to these loud and laughing surgeons
but instead I begin
the process with my own trembling hands,
feel for where the incision
must be made,
call for a scalpel,
call for you.

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Soundings East, Dalhousie Review and Connecticut River Review. Latest book, “Leaves On Pages” is available through Amazon.